Paper-based documentation processes reduced agility and slowed business development
Physical document stores caused delays in retrieving key information
Increasing volatility created huge demand for gas storage
Off-site physical document storage increased the risk of losing records

Established in 2016, Conexus Baltic Grid AS stores and supplies natural gas to customers located throughout Estonia, Finland, Latvia and Lithuania. With enough underground storage capacity to hold two times Latvia’s annual gas consumption, Conexus plays a vital role in energy security across the Baltic region.

Conexus is on a mission to develop its business by serving more of its neighbors in the region. Committed to combating climate change, Conexus is also focused on transitioning to a carbon-neutral future. To achieve both objectives, it’s crucial that Conexus keeps daily operations running smoothly.

As a heavily regulated business, Conexus generates documentation with almost every activity—critical information that must be securely stored for audits, regulatory review and record-keeping. For many years, Conexus created and stored this mission-critical documentation on paper.

“Conexus was spun off from a Latvian natural gas trading company. When we became an independent company, we inherited our former parent’s paper-based processes,” explained Mārtiņš Gode, Chief Financial Officer at Conexus Baltic Grid. “For example, board members would print large binders of paper for meetings and employees would physically drive documents to storage office location over 50km away from our head office, on a regular basis.”

With documents stored across three sites, finding documentation was a time-intensive manual process—consuming significant resources when documents needed to be signed and approved by decision-makers or retrieved for audit purposes.

“Working with paper documents also increased the risk of important documentation getting lost or accidentally destroyed,” continued Gode. “What’s more, we had a lot of documents on file that were no longer needed, which took up space and increased our storage costs. We knew that moving to digital document management processes would help to improve efficiency, strengthen governance, facilitate transparency and enhance information security as the business developed, so we made digital transformation a top priority.”

Overhead of two people on industrial site wearing hard hats

OpenText has empowered us to truly modernize our document management processes and our overall working culture.

Mārtiņš Gode
CFO, Conexus Baltic Grid

Solution

Conexus engaged business partner Digital Mind to help it design and deploy ultra-efficient document management processes. Powered by OpenText Extended ECM, the new solution offers flexible, robust, and reliable document management.

Products deployed

OpenText™ Extended ECM

Bridge information silos, improve processes and strengthen governance

Expert-led deployment

Conexus selected OpenText Extended ECM as the foundation for a new digital document management platform, enabling seamless integration with Microsoft Dynamics 365 ERP and other mission-critical internal and external systems.

“Our core business is natural gas storage and supply, so we didn’t have the experience or resources to build a digital document management platform from scratch,” said Gode. “We were also keen to avoid introducing paper-based inefficiencies into the new digital process. For this reason, we looked for a solution from a global leader in the document management space that came with best practices built in. OpenText was a clear leader on both fronts.”

Moving to digital processes

With support from Digital Mind, Conexus created entirely digital document management processes, including new workflows designed to improve internal processes and procedures.

“We really valued Digital Mind’s willingness to challenge our perceptions and suggest new ways of working,” commented Gode. “Having lived with paper documents for so long, it was hard to imagine what we needed from a digital platform. Fortunately, Digital Mind was willing to help us every step of the way and make sure we gained maximum value from our investment in OpenText solutions.”

Planning for a cloud future

Conexus initially deployed the OpenText solutions on premise and is currently considering moving the solution into a cloud environment.

“As the security and resiliency of cloud infrastructure continues to advance, we’re exploring the possibility of moving our ECM solution to a new platform,” explained Gode. “The fact that OpenText solutions are cloud-ready will make this process much easier in the future.”

With OpenText driving more efficient document management workflows, we’re free to focus on our core mission: providing reliable natural gas to our customers and investing in a greener future.

Mārtiņš Gode
CFO, Conexus Baltic Grid

Results

By replacing paper-based processes with streamlined digital workflows powered by OpenText solutions, Conexus increased business agility and enhanced the efficiency and transparency of core document management activities—preparing the company for future challenges and sustainable development.

Shifted seamlessly to remote working

In recent years, efficient and reliable document management processes have proven valuable for Conexus Baltic Grid’s changing operations.

“We were very pleased that we deployed the OpenText solutions before the COVID-19 pandemic,” explained Gode. “Thanks to our digital document workflows, moving to remote working was a quick and painless process—avoiding the disruption we would surely have experienced if we were still reliant on paper.”

Enabled outstanding efficiency

With all documents stored in a central repository, employees no longer need to comb through filing cabinets to find documents, or physically transport files long distances to securely store information—helping to reduce costs.

“OpenText has empowered us to truly modernize our document management processes and our overall working culture,” explained Gode. “Previously, employees had to attend the office in person to receive updates on strategic decisions from the boardroom. Today, leaders can make new information available instantly in digital format—allowing employees to work efficiently from any location.”

Gode added: “When Russia invaded Ukraine, the price of gas skyrocketed, and energy security became a top priority in Europe and beyond. To meet these challenges, we needed to be able to scale our operations quickly, securely and reliably. And with digital workflows powered by OpenText solutions, we were well placed to enhance our storage business and help our neighbors strengthen their energy resiliency.”

Enhanced security, facilitating growth

As well as making files more easily accessible to employees, Conexus strengthens the security of sensitive information using role-based access.

“As a key part of Latvian national infrastructure, some of the documents we generate are highly confidential,” explained Gode. “OpenText allows us to set up watertight authentication protocols so only the intended recipients can view protected material. What’s more, we have full traceability of who and when files are accessed—helping to simplify auditing and regulatory reporting processes. With OpenText driving more efficient document management workflows, we’re free to focus on our core mission: providing reliable natural gas to our customers and investing in a greener future.”